ARE COMPANIES’ PROGRAMS IMPACTING CHANGE IN THE LIVES OF HAZELNUT WORKERS? Fair Labor Association’s Social Impact Assessment of Nestle’s, Olam’s and Balsu’s Programs in Turkey. EXECUTIVE REPORT June 2019 TABLE OF CONTENTS I. An Innovative Approach ............................................................................................................. 1 II. In Context: The FLA Program and the Social Impact Assessment .................................. 2 III. Assessment of Intervention Areas ........................................................................................... 6 1. Summer Schools ....................................................................................................................................... 7 2. Worker Training .........................................................................................................................................11 3. Labor Intermediary Training ................................................................................................................13 4. Training for Farm Workers and Women in the Local Community ........................................14 5. Renovation Projects ................................................................................................................................15 6. Conclusion ..................................................................................................................................................17 IV. Annex 1: Social Impact Assessment Project in Turkey .......................................................19 V. Annex 2: Balsu Implementation Plan for 2019....................................................................28 VI. Annex 3: Olam Implementation Plan for 2019 ....................................................................34 SOCIAL IMPACT ASSESSMENT IN NESTLÉ’S HAZELNUT SUPPLY CHAIN IN TURKEY: OLAM AND BALSU I. AN INNOVATIVE APPROACH Between 2015 and 2018, Nestlé and SOCIAL IMPACT ASSESSMENT: A its hazelnut suppliers in Turkey, Olam, LOOK AT THE METHODOLOGY and Balsu—members of the Fair Labor Association (FLA)—participated in an Between August 6 and 17, 2018, the ambitious project, Piloting the United States assessment team interviewed 455 people: Department of Agriculture Guidelines for Eliminating Child Labor and Forced Labor • 110 workers (aged 16 and over), in Turkey’s Hazelnut Sector. Turkey is the 12 children, 11 garden owners, 2 world’s leading producer of hazelnut. labor intermediaries, 7 supervisors and 17 key local informants in the The pilot program – run by the FLA and Balsu supply chain. The fieldwork supported by the U.S. Department of was concentrated in the villages of Labor’s Bureau of International Labor Affairs Beyören and Balatlı. (USDOL-ILAB) – provided insight into the workforce and working conditions in the • 125 workers (aged 16 and over), 8 hazelnut sector, which accounts for 20 children, 9 garden owners, 2 labor percent of Turkey’s agricultural exports. The intermediaries, 7 supervisors and 32 project led to a comprehensive assessment key informants in the Olam Progida of the companies’ internal management supply chain. The fieldwork focused programs and a series of remediation mainly in the villages of Esmahanım, interventions aimed at improving the Uğurlu, Dereköy, Ardıçdibi and Kirazlı. working and living conditions of harvest workers and reducing the risk of child and The assessment team did not encounter forced labor in their hazelnut supply chain. local workers (from the same villages) during field research. The study data The FLA has conducted regular Independent collected refers to seasonal migrant External Monitoring (IEM) assessments of workers and their families. Most come social compliance in the hazelnut supply from the Southeast region of Turkey and chain of Nestlé, Olam, and Balsu in Turkey migrate for the harvest season to the since 2013. As the FLA-USDOL project Black Sea region of Turkey returning home reached its completion in June 2018, the during winter months. project partners decided to delve deeper during the 2018 harvest, beyond traditional One counterfactual location (control social compliance audits, and conduct a group), where no intervention had been Social Impact Assessment study. carried out, was selected in Cumayeri district, part of the Olam supply chain, to The approach, adopted for the first time by the FLA, reflects the growing need serve as a control point. In that setting, of companies and labor organizations to 103 workers, five farmers and five measure the real impact of interventions supervisors were interviewed. on workers’ living and working conditions. The FLA examined the historical data Regular inspections can reveal labor collected during IEM visits from the selected rights violations, but the limited scope of farms and analyzed this information against traditional social compliance evaluations the FLA Code of Conduct and benchmarks often fails to demonstrate the full effect for the agricultural sector. The team also of remediation interventions on workers’ conducted interviews with companies’ staff. wellbeing. (See detailed methodology in Annex 1) www.fairlabor.org 1 SOCIAL IMPACT ASSESSMENT IN NESTLÉ’S HAZELNUT SUPPLY CHAIN IN TURKEY: OLAM AND BALSU For this social impact assessment, the FLA team used elements of existing methodologies and adapted them to the hazelnuts context to evaluate progress made in building on the gains made in the 31 month DOL program and reflect on the work that the companies have been doing since 2013. During the August 2018 harvest, the research team collected qualitative and quantitative data from a selection of villages in Olam’s and Balsu’s supply chains. FLA has previously visited the same villages to conduct our annual IEM assessments and these villages have also been part of the DOL project. The SIA involved relevant target groups and stakeholders using in-depth interviews, and focus group sessions and data collection through observation sessions and structured questionnaires. Piloting the impact assessment offered an opportunity to evaluate the broader impact of remediation interventions carried out in Nestlé’s hazelnut supply chain. The findings enabled the three companies to revise their social compliance programs and write new Corrective Action Plans (implementation plans) to enhance the effectiveness of interventions in the hazelnut supply chain. In addition, the revised methodology will allow the FLA to refine and improve its methodology. At the time the Social Impact Assessment was conducted, interventions had only run for six to 24 months—a short period to observe substantial social change. Despite a short time frame, it was important to measure which interventions are mostly likely to bring about immediate positive impact. Further, some challenges and limitations, including the scarcity of regional or intervention-specific data, affected the depth of the information collected, the analysis and the scope of the study. Nonetheless, we believe it is important to track and assess progress and impact as part of our ongoing follow up to our collaboration with the companies, Department of Labor, and Government of Turkey. This report summarizes the findings of individual reports evaluating the impact of social interventions within the supply chains of Balsu and Olam in Turkey. In addition to documenting trends in labor issues such as child labor, the study identifies factors that underpin successful remediation interventions, such as cooperation between private sector companies, civil society organizations, and government agencies. The lessons learned in the course of the FLA-USDOL project and the results of the study help Nestlé and its suppliers fine-tune their interventions. They may aserve to inspire other companies and labor organizations to follow in the project partners’ footsteps and measure the direct impact of remediation on workers’ living and working conditions. II. IN CONTEXT: THE FLA PROGRAM AND THE SOCIAL IMPACT ASSESSMENT Each summer, tens of thousands of seasonal workers, most of them traveling in family groups from the Southeast region of Turkey, migrate to the Black Sea region to harvest hazelnuts. During the harvest, which lasts 30 days to 45 days, workers toil for long hours in the heat and often live in unsuitable accommodations. Without employment contracts, workers are vulnerable to exploitation. Children sometimes work alongside their parents, to the detriment of their personal development. www.fairlabor.org 2 SOCIAL IMPACT ASSESSMENT IN NESTLÉ’S HAZELNUT SUPPLY CHAIN IN TURKEY: OLAM AND BALSU FLA-USDOL PROJECT RESULTS • 2,470 Harvest workers reached • 509 Children provided safe spaces • 89 Labor contractors registered • 24 Housing renovations completed • 287 Farmers received training • 219 Labor contractors received training • 256 Community members attended trainings • 139 Government officials received Key issues affecting seasonal agricultural training workers include: • 34 Company personnel trained • Low level of education: While literacy • 123 Teachers trained within the efforts has been almost universally achieved, of eliminating child labor and improving high school graduation rates among working and living conditions. hazelnut workers are much lower than the national average, limiting the workers’ options for decent employment; • Lack of formal contracts: Without formal work agreements, workers may • Long working hours: During the harvest, be vulnerable to pressure and abuse, most workers are routinely expected